Â
When you defend America’s freedom, it doesn’t matter whether you are black, brown, white, yellow, Republican, Democrat, gay, straight, or whatever other label you might want to use.  None of that matters; or at least it’s not supposed to matter. All that it matters is making sure that you got the back of your buddy next to you, your fellow soldier. Currently, the U.S. government bars youth that are undocumented from serving in the U.S. military, in a country that these kids have grown up in and is all that they have ever known and loved. Many of these young adults have been brave enough to come out of the shadows and make their voices heard. Via Citizen Orange:
Military Hopefuls Continue to Grow Outside McCain’s Office
Undocumented youth asking to join military grow in numbers in Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona – Undocumented youth are now on their 4th day outside of Senator McCain’s Phoenix office. Michael, an undocumented aspiring serviceman, is leading a boot camp that has extended for four fays outside of the senator’s office with a simple ask, “let me be a soldier.”
“On Thursday my DREAM Army started with just two recruits, both undocumented and like me wanting to just have a chance to serve in the military. Now, just four days later, there are almost a dozen of us training and working on our drills hoping to be recognized for our desire to serve…”
For the cynics out there that may dismiss this as some kind of recruitment or publicity ploy, consider this: creating opportunity so that everyone has the chance to serve their country, whether it is by going to college, serving in our local community through volunteerism, or serving in the U.S. military, is not only the practical thing to do, it is perfectly in line with our American ideals of guaranteeing that our people are not prevented from fulfilling their highest potential.
…and what about making sure we protect the family ties and well-being of our men and women in uniform who are already serving in the military and have relatives and friends that are undocumented and would be directly impacted by passage of the DREAM Act? Â
Â
Speaking from personal experience, many fellow Latinos that I’ve run across that are in the military sometimes have undocumented brothers, sisters, cousins, friends, or other relatives who they feel a strong connection with and would be directly benefited by passage of the DREAM Act.  In fact, in my experience, this identification with undocumented youth is very personal and tends to run with Latino soldiers, marines, sailors, etc. regardless of whether they are registered Republicans, Democrats, or whatever … which brings me to my initial point: in our constant struggle to defend and protect our freedom, what really matters is your buddy next to you and the people you love, not some label.Â